


The Testing of the First Years

by Sephypsycologist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW HOGWARTS IS A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE IS WELCOME, Death of the Author is a wonderful concept and I'm taking full advantage of it., Gen, The castle says trans rights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 08:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19390315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephypsycologist/pseuds/Sephypsycologist
Summary: The girls' stairs won't let boys in.A tradition started because of that and it happens every year.





	The Testing of the First Years

It was a tradition that was usually done on the first night, sometimes they forgot and did it later, but it happened every year at some early point.

All the little Gryffindors (and most likely all the other houses did something similar) lined up to Try the Stairs.

The girls’ stairs were charmed not to let boys in.

So the whole lot of the new Gryffindor students were sent to try them.

And every year, one or two of the new kids would find a surprise.

On their second year, Fred and George watched as a timid little long haired child whimpered when they couldn’t enter the stairway. “I-I don’t understand? Won’t I get in trouble not being up there?”

“No?” said Oliver Wood, confused. “You’re a boy if the stairs say so, and we’re not gonna get upset about that.”

Their name had been Kensly, Fred recalled, and they got very comfortable going by Ken once they stopped worrying about people being angry with them. Muggleborn, they found out later, and apparently them being a boy was something their parents didn’t agree with.

Muggles were very strange, especially when it came to simple things like who somebody was or ought to be. They seemed to think they could change that somehow. Daft, surely, all of them. Ken was a wicked master at Charms and got bloody good at Transfiguration as well.

The next year, a stocky kid shot up the stairs and then came back, crowing, “I TOLD YOU I WAS A GIRL, YOU GITS!”

It didn’t matter whether they made it through or not, every kid got cheered at their valiant attempt at the stairs. It was tradition, and one that was full of surprises and happy tears, like most at Hogwarts.

One time, it was one of the times they’d forgotten for a few nights, George came down to see the testing as Fred had wanted some time to think of a new prank to get under Snape’s skin, and he saw a kid stuck halfway up the stairs.

“Uh?” They worried as they could pull back but couldn’t go any further forward.

“Oh! We got a middle kind!” Said one of the older girls, and she helped the kid down. “No worries. Just means you’re somewhere in between. Ya can sleep with the boys but we’ll make sure everybody knows you’re a they, yeah? or do you mind he or she?”

The kid beamed and said, “she’s fine, but I like they, too. Thank you for asking!” It made George happy to see the little guys feeling welcome. It was just proper manners, after all, knowing what people wanted to be called. Plenty of great magical folks who were middle kind or other. Others usually turned blue for an hour if they touched the stairs, found that out first year.

But it was fun as everybody hugged and back-patted the first years, congratulating them all on completing the rite of passage.

There was no one here that was going to make them feel any less for what they were, or weren’t, because they were all Gryffindors, and that made you part of the family. Lifetime membership.


End file.
